FedEx's Top-Line Trends Still Sluggish, but Express Margins Show Promise
Overnight delivery pioneer FedEx is one of three large national carriers that dominate the for-hire small-parcel delivery landscape—FedEx and UPS are the major U.S. incumbents, while DHL Express leads Europe. FedEx is also the largest US less-than-truckload carrier, which helps forge sticky relationships with retail and industrial shippers on the package side. Rival UPS has been around much longer in the US ground market, forging a density advantage and higher margins, but FedEx has gradually enhanced its ground positioning over the past decade, with help from its speed advantage over UPS and capacity investment.